An Arizona man pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding the Internal Revenue Service of $17 million between 2017 and 2023.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday that Kent Ellsworth pleaded guilty to two counts of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, which were used to provide an illegal tax shelter for his clients.

Ellsworth Stauffer, the operator of a formerly licensed professional corporation, concealed nearly $60 million from the IRS, causing an estimated loss of $17 million in taxes that Ellsworth’s clients should have paid, according to the DOJ in a news release.

According to the DOJ, Ellsworth promoted and sold fraudulent tax shelters for about 60 clients nationwide, creating more than 500 false tax returns.

Ellsworth carried out his scheme by reporting his clients’ income to fraudulent trusts and foundations set up to act as bank accounts that held the funds free of being taxed.

The DOJ said that the majority of Ellsworth’s clients were successful business owners who falsely donated the funds to the tax shelters under the disguise that the income was being given to client’s family members, allowing for the bypass of regular tax laws.

The DOJ added that Ellsworth also charged money by charging for preparing the returns.

The DOJ stated that Ellsworth had been taught how to perform the fraudulent returns but did not specify who taught him.

Ellsworth was scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 14 by a federal court and, if convicted, could face a six-year prison sentence, a fine of $250,00, reimbursement of prosecution expenses, and undergo supervised release.

The DOJ did not immediately provide more information on Ellsworth and his crimes.

Maricopa county, Arizona – a campaign battleground where election workers have faced violent threats – has taken extraordinary measures to protect its staff and the counting of ballots.

The Guardian obtained a document from the county listing security changes it has made since the 2020 election. Those include stationing a Swat team on-site at the main building where votes are tabulated and deploying the sheriff on horseback.

After facing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Maricopa county became a hotspot for the contentious fights that followed. It is the most populous county in Arizona, a critical swing state in the presidential election and a battleground state for control of the Senate. Election workers have faced a daily torrent of hateful and menacing messages over email and social media, and such threats led Clint Hickman to decide not to run for re-election as a county supervisor this year.

The document provided to the Guardian by staff with the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) shows how the county has transformed that building into a fortress.

Armed guards have been increased at entrances and exits, and sheriffs patrol the area continuously. Doors to secure areas have been replaced with ones that require badge access, said Taylor Kinnerup, spokesperson for the county recorder’s office.

While awaiting tabulation, ballots are held in “secure cages” made of chain-link fencing. Ballots are stored in these cages during lunch breaks, off hours, or any other pause, Kinnerup explained.

In the tabulation rooms, where votes are counted, three people have to be in the room at all times, Kinnerup said. In those rooms, the hard drives that record and store votes have their ports blocked and no access to wifi, Kinnerup explained, so that no one can access them except authorized officials who are allowed to enter the room. They are connected by physical wires only to servers within the building, and the whole system is closed and does not connect to the internet.

If an IT person is needed, that person must be escorted by two other employees. If visitors come, the document says, “ambassadors” escort them to maintain security while “ensuring observers can monitor the election process”.

Surveillance cameras that livestream to the public monitor those rooms and other key facilities in the Tabulation and Election Center. Cameras also continuously record the interior and exterior of the MCTEC building, and every place where a ballot goes in the building is under video surveillance. The surveillance cameras have been upgraded, the document says, and additional lighting and video surveillance have been installed at drop boxes.

Ballots are also protected against natural disasters and are stored in a “fire retardant room”, Kinnerup said, “so if the whole building would catch on fire, the ballots would be fine”.

The county did not say how much all the security enhancements have cost. But since July 2023, it has spent more than $25,000 on paying and equipping officers focused on election safety, according to the communications director for the county.

Maricopa county emergency management has spent $22,748.65 on personnel/payroll costs for security officers. An additional $2,587.75 has been spent on their uniforms, weapons, Tasers, radios and other equipment.

These measures are only part of the county’s actions to prepare for the primary in July and the general election in November. Many county departments meet regularly with outside experts including David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, to discuss the protection against election threats.

“Especially after the 2020 election, the threat environment at election offices has gotten much worse,” Becker said. In Maricopa county, he said, election security is crucial because “there have been lies to such a great degree, and people try to use those opportunities to claim the election was stolen”.

Saturday night was the highest of highs for Arizona, winning the final Pac-12 regular season title in dramatic fashion with a walkoff at Hi Corbett Field. But Monday brought a return to reality, as the Wildcats put forth a less than enthusiastic practice in preparation for the conference tournament.

“I’ll give you a pass today, but tomorrow let’s have a good one,” Chip Hale said he told the team afterward. “Be ready for Wednesday. Washington’s gonna bring everything they have at us.”

Arizona (33-20) opens the Pac-12 Tournament at 7 p.m. PT Wednesday against the ninth-seeded Huskies (19-29-1) in the first of two pool play games at Scottsdale Stadium. The Wildcats also face No. 6 Cal (34-18) on Thursday night, and as the No. 1 seed only need to win once to earn a spot in Friday’s semifinals.

“Our attitude going in is we want to win every game,” Hale said. “We want to win every inning, you want to win every out, so we’re going to do the best we can to win it. There will be some times during Wednesday’s game where they need to get their feet back on the ground. It may not start great, I know that.”

With that in mind, though, the UA won’t throw any of its three weekend starters in the opener, going with left-hander Bradon Zastrow in what will be a bullpen game akin to the May 7 win at ASU. That would line up lefty Jackson Kent to face Cal, then have righty Clark Candiotti for the semis and righty Cam Walty for Saturday’s Pac-12 title game.

“We didn’t want to push Kent up a day again,” Hale said. “This way he gets seven days, and then for the regional (all three starters) will get even one more day.”

Kent has allowed five runs in three consecutive starts after having a 2.41 ERA through his first 11 outings. Hale said the redshirt sophomore’s arm is fine, it was just a matter of leaving his changeup up in the zone against a potent Oregon State offense, which knocked him out after three innings last Thursday.

Regardless of what happens in Scottsdale this week, Arizona will be in next week’s NCAA Tournament. That wasn’t the case a year ago when the Wildcats had to get to the Pac-12 final to sneak into the NCAA field, beating ASU and Oregon State to win its pool and then run-ruling top seed Stanford before falling to Oregon in the title game.

The different scenarios shouldn’t create different approaches to the tourney, infielder Garen Caulfield said.

“I think it’s just continuing to play the game one pitch at a time and treating every game like we have nothing to lose and playing with house money,” said Caulfield, one of eight Wildcats to earn all-conference honors.

Some added motivation could come from starting with a Washington team that took two of three from Arizona late last month in Seattle. The Wildcats won the first game 3-2, dropped the middle 4-3 and led 8-3 in the 8^th before blowing the lead and falling in 13 innings.

“I think the guys felt like we should have won two out of three,” Hale said. “I think that adds a little juice to it.”

Hale defers Coach of the Year praise

Asked about winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Hale was quick to credit everyone around him for what he called a “staff award.” The players say otherwise.

“I think he’s played a role in every step of success we’ve had,” Caulfield said. “He’s kept our heads straight. We weren’t picked to finish very high, as you guys know, and we used that as a chip on our shoulder and Chip just continued to put together good plans for every practice and all the games and everything. So it’s very exciting to see him win.”

Added Candiotti: “Just keeping everyone together and making sure that everyone’s on the same page and no one’s getting left behind, so to speak. Making sure everyone’s right at the top, right at that level and just always moving forward. Never getting stuck on events in the past.”

The first person in conference history to win both Player and Coach of the Year awards in baseball, Hale said his ability to be patient with a young team was his biggest goal for the season.

“The one thing about coming from the pro side to the college side is … if you’re out of the game, you don’t have a good start to it, you have 144 in the minor leagues and have 162 in the big leagues, so be it,” he said. “But every game is a World Series in college. It’s so super important to win every game. And so to be patient through a 9-inning game, understand that there’s going toand flows, which I do. So just be patient. And if they need a little jab, or a little kick in the butt, know when to do that. I think that’s been probably my biggest goal this year.”

Injury update

Arizona’s outfield situation became so injury depleted last weekend against Oregon State that reliever Casey Hintz, recruited as a two-way player, was forced into starting the last two games in center. But heading into the Pac-12 tourney, reinforcements may be on the way.

Hale said freshman Easton Breyfogle, who has out since pulling a hamstring at Washington on April 27, is “close” to returning and could be in the lineup Wednesday night. Senior Emilio Corona and redshirt freshman TJ Adams are both expected to be on the tourney roster, which at 30 is three more than for Pac-12 games, but neither are likely to be able to hit.

Corona, who was hit on the right hand with a pitch on Thursday, can’t grip a bat yet but could pinch run—he was in consideration for that Saturday night in the 9^th inning—and possibly play defense. Adams, who injured his right shoulder crashing into the wall at Utah on May 10, has yet to resume baseball activities but could run the bases if needed.